Sinuous Channel

. This segment of a sinuois lava channel in Lavinia Planitia is approximately 200 thousand meters long and just 2 thousand meters wide. Such channel-like features are common in the lowland plains of Venus. They meander across the plains, like terrestrial rivers, but apparently formed by fluid lava that melts its way across the surface. The very flat surface of Venus may explain why the channels remain within narrow boundaries without forming any lava lakes or tributaries. (Courtesy of JPL and NASA.)